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It seems there's not a lot of information on the web about upgrading the stereo system in these cars. Until recently there were really no options other than tapping into existing after amp wires to do anything. However I thought I'd share some part numbers and descriptors to help you guys out who may be looking. And make some suggestions, fair warning though, any stereo upgrading will be costly because of the unique devices needed to make it sound good. so here it goes.

To those who want to upgrade the stereo head unit they do now make a kit for our cars, Locating one on the other hand will be tough as they are not available online as you will have to go to a local car audio shop to order one, same goes for amp bypass wiring.

I personally have the bose centerpoint system, and actually really like the scrolling up screen so keeping the head unit stock is cool with me. So in my situation, I wanted to upgrade the mids highs and add bass. Go with the metra kit, AX-DSP-MOST1, this bypasses the factory amplifier all together and gives you RCA's to plug amps into. It also comes with a dsp (digital signal processor) so you can do time alignment and a nice EQ for tweeking the mids and highs.

I just requested to order one of these so in the mean time i tapped into the woofers in the trunk and used that for bass signal to run my subs. I used an audio control LC7i line driver adaptor to convert to RCA'S and it works like a charm (considering im using an amplified line)

JUST MAKE SURE if you go this route, that you are getting a Bass signal off the speakers you are tapping, the rear deck speakers i found to be the best for this. However there are 2 sets of wires running into these stock rear deck speakers, you need to tap into the bottom wires, the top ones produce mids/high sound and you wont get any good bass from there.

I also made a power remote turn on wire for my line driver and amp, you can tap into the fuse panel on the left side of the steering wheel located behind the little compartment door, I used a 'mini fuse circuit tap' and was able to pull an ac turn on wire from there.

Most all of the factory tapping stuff, other than the remote on wire, is in the trunk, if you need to locate the factory amplifier, its on the passenger side behind the carpet, all the way against the body wall, its silver, and has a green plug and black plug into it. I have tested these lines and have found out what they are, i have a diagram too if someone wants it.

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I'm currently running ~1800wrms (kappa K4, T1000-1 bdcp) with stock electrical up front and, surprisingly, no dimming whatsoever yet. Going to run my big 3 once it warms up a bit here and possibly get an alt too if I need it

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I'm currently running ~1800wrms (kappa K4, T1000-1 bdcp) with stock electrical up front and, surprisingly, no dimming whatsoever yet. Going to run my big 3 once it warms up a bit here and possibly get an alt too if I need it

Yes i am for now, but my amp is so powerful when i really turn it up the dimming still occurs. I found a 370 amp alternator online for $699 that will put out over 250 amps at idle. but the big 3 help IMMENSELY for sure!!

You can see photos of my stuff in my garage (click on my avatar photo to see)

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Yes i am for now, but my amp is so powerful when i really turn it up the dimming still occurs. I found a 370 amp alternator online for $699 that will put out over 250 amps at idle. but the big 3 help IMMENSELY for sure!!

You can see photos of my stuff in my garage (click on my avatar photo to see)

However, when I put my car in on Crutchfield, it says installing a radio is still not recommended because there's still some kind of issue with the Climate controls. They even called me back after I emailed them asking if the site was updated with the release of the dash kit; they said, for some reason, they still don't recommend the kit after they tried it out because of Climate control issues.

So looks like I will let someone else be the guinea pig and report back on if all the harnesses and kit works, lol. Plus, in my opinion, that dash kit looks like trash since it sticks out so far from the factory bezel. If I were to do mine, I think I'd hack up the housing behind the radio to do it like the guy did on Youtube (

) and at least get the thing to sit almost flush and make my own bezel.

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I have the mylink system 8” scene so I’m in a better position to keep my HU. As for you, I’d look at the pioneer 7201 or 8201 nex model if your looking to change up. They have the ability to adapt to your heating controls within the vehicle. Not sure what interfaces u would need.

But I also don’t think the heater controls are ‘ran’ thur the radio, just displayed, the dials I believe work all that below.

I guess to test it. Pull the stereo and unhook it, then fire up the car and turn on your heater controls. If they work. NO PROBLEM then!!

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Possibly? I can take a look tomorrow, but it had the most basic audio package I know that for sure (6 speakers; 1 for each door and 2 in front dash) . So definitely going to be a bit different than yours, but hopefully still be compatible.

Pretty sure I've almost completely bypassed the amp as it is, if not completely, so fingers crossed..

Yeah I honestly might go that route. Like I said, the signal from this thing is DIRTY, it distorts at about 60% of volume. Getting anxious to jump on something here in a few weeks as I'm going to have to double or triple my commute time and I want to enjoy it

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You're telling me... I had all my stuff installed originally by a shop and the guy completely F-ed me; so I've literally redone EVERYTHING myself besides the (post-?) amp pin-out that feeds my dsp (I'll check it again tomorrow).

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This bypass that’s coming out is supposed to eliminate a ton of the install headaches on our cars. I was going to go with summing the after amp signal but found out these were coming out so I have been hanging tight.

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This bypass that’s coming out is supposed to eliminate a ton of the install headaches on our cars. I was going to go with summing the after amp signal but found out these were coming out so I have been hanging tight.

Just got done tearing the dash down and putting it back together... The climate controls still work without the radio!

My Metra dash kit came in today too so I went ahead and just put the majority of it in while I was at it.

My radio comes in tomorrow (Kenwood double din), but I'm still on the fence about what kit I'm going to go with. Most likely the PAC RP5-GM51 cause it's cheaper than the Axxess one, but I will make up my mind tomorrow. Probably overnight it from crutchfield, or try to find it locally so I can have it in by the weekend and finally enjoy some clean sounds.

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